His Captive: A Dark Mafia Romance

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AMBER

My alarm pinged into a frenzy on my bedside table. I woke up from my slumber, stretching and yawning loudly.

My name is Amber Amrezy. I'm thirty years old, and I live in Leeds, a city in England. I have long, jet black hair, caramel-coloured skin, big brown eyes, a pointed nose, and heart-shaped lips. I've been living in Leeds for two and a half years, ever since I ran away from my abusive ex-boyfriend Agron. With the way that Agron used to treat me, I was too paranoid to even leave my apartment most of the time. That was why I had a stay-at-home job of being a graphic designer, drawing digital art, logos, CD covers, book covers, the works. And because it could all be done on the computer or a drawing tablet and stylus, from the comfort of my own home, I never really needed to go outside to face the real world.

I had a few friends here in Leeds, and I met up with them occasionally, but most of the time, I preferred to stay at home, in the comfort of my four walls, knowing that I was finally safe.

Knowing that Agron couldn't harm me anymore.

When I ran away from Agron, I didn't know whether he would catch up to me, or find me and track me down. That was why I filed a police report against him, letting them know that he hit me and raped me, letting them know that he recorded a sex tape of the rape to threaten me with if I ever chose to leave him. It was the sex tape that was my final straw, and I knew that it would destroy me mentally and emotionally if he leaked it on the internet, allowing perverted men to pay for it and masturbate over it. It made me sick to my damn stomach.

I thought that telling the police would help me. So I poured my heart out to them, letting them know of every miniscule detail, not wanting to be Agron's puppet anymore, not wanting to be his toy anymore. Despite how much he'd threatened me – despite how much he told me he would kill me if I tried to run away, and cause trouble for him.

Two and a half years later, the investigation was still ongoing. That was the thing with rape investigations. They were always so lengthy, and took so much time to process.

But so far, it meant that it had kept me safe. Because all of this time that I'd been living in Leeds, I hadn't heard a thing from Agron. Hadn't seen him once. He was out of my way now, and I could finally live my life without fearing that he would hurt me...

Because if he did, the police would deal with him accordingly.

Agron was the biggest mistake I made in my life. I met him when I was on holiday in Albania, clubbing. He was sweet, charming and charismatic. Not to mention handsome. He was tall, muscular, with a well-built frame. Pale skin, dark brown hair, a scruffy, rugged beard, pale green eyes.

From the day I laid eyes on him, he turned my world upside down. He would call me beautiful, take me on dates, spoil me. He was a very wealthy man, and he showed me the finer things in life.

I was twenty-five years old when I met him, and I didn't have a job. I'd just graduated from university, and had been looking for a job for some time, but hadn't been able to find one, because of the creative industry being over-saturated. It was stressing me out, which was why I went to Albania for a holiday, needing to get my head straight. Not knowing that I was going to meet the man who changed my life, and outlook on life, forever.

I stayed in Albania for a long time with Agron, and when I decided to fly back to England, he flew back with me. Telling me he had business deals in England too, so it would be no problem. Having to find a job was no problem for me anymore, because Agron would never let me work for a day in my life. He allowed me to live with his money, in Essex, with him, and with time, we both fell helplessly in love with each other.

But a year into the relationship, he became more and more possessive and controlling. Every little thing I did would anger him, infuriate him. And I experienced a side to him that I'd never seen before. Had never expected from him.

He started hitting me, always said that I was eternally in his debt because he'd saved me from unemployment, saved me from being a bum. Lived off of his money when I had none of my own. For a long time, I put up with his abuse, thinking that I deserved it, believing that I was nothing without him, thinking that he was going through a phase, and all of the arguing and bickering would blow over.

But it never did.

With each passing day, it got worse and worse, and I could feel myself falling out of love with the man I once loved so dearly. I tried to leave him, many, many times...

But he would never let me.

He would forcefully have sex with me, rape me, have his way with me. The touch I once got lost in, was captivated by, was now revolting to me. I tried so hard to fight it, to stop him, but it was no use.

He never listened.

But one week, he went away for business, leaving me in his home, with just his bodyguards there to keep watch. After a few days of learning the way that they operated, and the way they moved and walked around the house, I plotted my escape.

And then I ran for my life, never looking back.

Needing to get as far away from Essex as possible...

Knowing that Agron was abroad, so he wouldn't be able to catch up with me so easily.

And now, here I was.

In Leeds...

With a new life.

I knew that I needed to move on.

I knew that I needed to put my past behind me.

Find a new man...

A man that cared about me.

Who loved me...

Who didn't make me question my self-worth.

Who didn't make me question my value, wondering why I wasn't enough.

Wondering what I'd done to warrant getting hit and abused.

But what happened with Agron had left me beyond fucked-up for a long time.

Not knowing if I could trust another man.

Not knowing if I could let another man in.

I wasn't in love with Agron anymore...

I was just terrified of falling in love with somebody new, and them putting up a sweet façade at first, only to turn out toxic and manipulative later.

I couldn't put myself through again.

I let out a deep sigh, knowing that my trust issues were going to get the better of me one day.

That my insecurities were going to end up eating me alive one day.

I shook my head, snapping out of my thoughts, and made my way to my computer, ready to get to work for my graphic design tasks for the day.